Children's Literature and Movies, Therapy and Service Dogs, the Planet Of The Dogs book series, and books for dog lovers.

January 23, 2012

Winter Forests, Books, Kids and Dogs

The forest in winter...

Beautiful but foreboding...

I live much of the year in Finland where the land is covered in forest.

The winter forests of long, long ago were much like those today.

The winter forest in the land of the Forest People became the place where the soldiers would attempt to capture and destroy the dogs in Castle In The Mist. However, the soldiers and their Prince knew nothing about winter dogs nor of their ability to see -- with their nose -- in the forest mist or in the darkness.

The forest in winter became the place for the dogs to challenge the invaders. The forest in winter became a crucial ground for non-violence, imagination, courage, and loyalty to win the day. Although the book is a fantasy adventure, it is grounded in the harsh reality of the cold winter forest.

Warfare, invaders, and loss of freedom are all around us. It seems to have always been this way, from Alexander and ancient Rome, to Chechnya and Afghanistan today. Violence is a way of life.

I don't want to mislead our readers about non-violence in a violent world. But perhaps in our books they will see something of the possibilities for non-violence in the the "real" world, as the dogs, with their unconditional courage, loyalty, and cleverness overcome invaders, swords, and warriors on horses...and bring peace to the land.

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Compassion, Not Anger (this was written by Ariel Wulff in response to a well-intentioned but heavy-handed Facebook video of animal cruelty)

"Anger doesn’t motivate me - anger makes me feel washed out and exhausted and depressed, and therefore is not a useful emotion for me...It’s Compassion that motivates me, and I don’t need to be reminded of what lengths people will go to to hurt animals in order for me to feel that compassion. I feel it just seeing their beautiful eyes peering out at me from behind the bars of the shelters they are in. I feel it when I see them hanging their heads because they’ve lost hope. And when I hear their simple stories of being left behind; of being discarded; of being betrayed by the people they’d die to protect – I feel it..." Link to read it all: Compassion

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We learned the following about Dog Stamps from Therapy Dogs United, the Eirie Pa. organization that does so much in so many ways with therapy dogs for people throughout their part of the world.

"Dogs at Work Postage Stamps Coming

The US Postal Service is making sure the old adage "every dog has its day," reigns true with its brand

new set of "Dogs at Work" postage stamps. The stamps depict four hard-working canines: a guide dog assisting a woman who is blind, a tracking dog on the trail of a scent, a therapy dog visiting an elderly woman in her home, and a search and rescue dog standing in a field, ready to tackle the next assignment. The 64 cent stamp is available nationwide January 20th and is for mail weighing 2 oz. To learn more, visit the US Postal Service's Blog. Scoops says Shakespeare got it right when Hamlet said,"The cat will mew and the dog will have his day!"

Therapy Dogs United has photos of all their therapy dogs on their web site(click Paw Power on their site)...some of these wonderful dogs are in the photo montage below.

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Read Sample Chapters of all our books at www.planetofthedogs.net

All books in the Planet Of The Dogs series can be purchased at your favorite independent bookstore or on the internet through Barnes& Noble, Amazon, Powells and many others.

Deanna Leah of HBG Productions will represent us at the Bologna Children's Book Fair, March 19 to 22. This is an international event dedicated to the children’s publishing and multimedia industry..."authors, illustrators, literary agents, licensors and licensees, packagers, distributors, printers, booksellers, and librarians meet to sell and buy copyright, find the very best of children's publishing and..."

Sarah Kay: If I should have a daughter ...

Sarah has been writing poetry since she was 14." Now 22, Kay is a successful spoken word poet and codirects Project V.O.I.C.E. (Vocal Outreach Into Creative Expression). Founded by Kay in 2004, Project V.O.I.C.E. encourages people, particularly teenagers, to use spoken word as a tool for understanding the world and self, and a medium for vital expression."

And here is TED'sbrief description of Sarah's presentation...

"If I should have a daughter, instead of Mom, she's gonna call me Point B ... " began spoken word poet Sarah Kay, in a talk that inspired two standing ovations at TED2011. She tells the story of her metamorphosis -- from a wide-eyed teenager soaking in verse at New York's Bowery Poetry Club to a teacher connecting kids with the power of self-expression through Project V.O.I.C.E. -- and gives two breathtaking performances of "B" and "Hiroshima."

Sarah was terrific and TED (link above) is a fascinating organization...both new to me. More resources on Denise's blog (link above) about Spoken Word Poetry and kid's books.

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Lit World is a leading advocate and driving force that promotes reading and literacy world wide..."LitWorld's mission is to use the power of story to cultivate literary skill in the world's most vulnerable children through Education, Advocacy and Innovation.

LitWorld sponsors a World Read Aloud Day...the date this year is March 7...visit LitWorld and learn how you can participate in this very special event.

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Ask any dog...do you enjoy having kids read dog stories to you?

If you have a therapy reading dog and like the idea of kids reading dog books to dogs, send us an email at barkingplanet@aol.com and we'll send you a complimentary book from the Planet Of The Dogs Series.

We will also send complimentary reader copies to librarians and teachers with therapy reading dog programs.

We support therapy reading dogs in fourteen states.

The illustration is a detail from Castle In The Mist. All illustrations in the Planet Of The Dogs series are by Stella Mustanoja-McCarty.

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The Children's Literary Salon at the New York Public Library will present Connect The Dots: Who's Who? Talking Books Across Literary Borders...."How do booksellers, librarians, and bloggers discover, promote, and discuss great books for kids? How does communication between these different occupations help an author get their name out to show the value of their books to a wider public audience of readers and buyers?..Panel of people in the field , to be moderated by organizer and Children's Librarian Elizabeth Bird...Saturday, Feb 4th, 2-3 PM, Berger Forum (second floor) in the NYPL Stephen Schwarzman Building on 5th Avenue and 42nd Street.

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Dog Writes Blog, Book...

Bo Knows, He Just Doesn't Listen is the website of author Horst Hoefinger, his wife, Lisa, and there talented dog, Bo. In addition to writing most of the stories, anecdotes, articles, and reviews on the site, Bo finds time to select excellent dog videos. Bo has also written an autobiography: Bad to the Bone:Memoirs of a Rebel Dog. (We previously recommend this book...here is an excerpt from our Amazon review...

"Written by a cheeky dog, this clever book has plenty of humor; however, it also deals, with caring and affection, with the fundamental issues in life. Imagine a well written and often poignant memoir of family life, from the point of view of a salty, but loving dog; a dog with a zest for life, a sense of humor, and a fearless honesty..."Link: BoKnows

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More Videos: Nancy Hauser's Blog is filled with articles concerning dog health, rescue, insights, humor and other relevant information for dog lovers. A recent post concerned a video celebration of dogs in cars...

Keith Hopkin Video: Dogs in Cars

Today is a feel good day on Way Cool Dogs about dogs in cars, enjoying the ride and playing.

We just received an email this morning from Keith Hopkin, an amateur video filmmaker who alone has over 356,753 YouTube video views, including Boo and Mia. This particular video, Dogs in Cars, has a video on Twitter and Facebook about dogs riding in cars. It is going viral, and he sent it to us for our readers’ enjoyment. Beautiful music, wonderful pictures and a quality theme … what more could any dog lover ask for? Link: Way Cool Dogs......................................

Dogs Bring Balance to An Unbalanced Society...an article from Cesar Milan's website...here is an excerpt

..."You need more than intelligence to create a connection with Mother Nature. Many of us have lost that connection and it is reflected in our animals. Dogs are our mirror and when they’re not following us it’s because we’re not balanced.

Being unconditional, that’s a dog. Humans are very conditional. Dogs, accepting. You can look horrible, but a dog will look at you like you’re the most beautiful human being ever, because what he’s looking at is your feelings. Dogs have integrity. But many humans measure integrity materially, with money. That’s how disconnected and unbalanced we have become"...Here is the Link: Cesar

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The Fun Times Guide to Dogs recently ran an article dealing with insights and guidance relating to Bad Dog Behavior....

Here are some excerpts..."﻿your dog’s bad behavior could be due to inconsistent or bad dog training. Or your dog may simply be uncomfortable in certain situations for one reason or another.

Frankie, the inspirational source for Barb Techel's inspiring books, is going into semi-retirement...she will stll visit Libby's House and schools but on a more limited basis.Frankie and Barb can be visited at: JoyfulPaws

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A sad real life dog story from Nancy Houser...powerful evidence that No Kill Animal Shelters are needed...

Target, a war hero dog, was missing. When his devoted owner, Sargent York, and his family found him, it was too late..."an U.S. Arizona local shelter put down an acclaimed national Afghanistan war hero dog by the name of Target who had survived a suicide bombing, was shot in the leg, shot at by Afghan men, and saved an American base — the Dand Patan military base — by attacking an Afghan bomber with 11kg of explosives on him..."

Target was destroyed by an animal shelter shortly after he arrived there.Here is the Link to read more :WarHero

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The Lost Dogs: Michael Vick’s Dogs and Their Tale of Rescue and Redemption

National Animal Books Examiner columnist Cayr Wulff wrote a most informative and insightful review of an top-notch and insightful dog rescue book. Here's a quote...

"The true stroke of brilliance in the narrative is the way Gorant writes about the dogs. They are not just intangible objects secondary to a celebrity story. The dogs are the story: they are the victims, and the book, after all, is about their redemption. Gorant describes with vivid detail what it means to be a fight dog, describing their existence from a dog’s viewpoint. Then he makes the reader fall in love with each of the 51 unique dogs, as he draws us through the story of their individual struggles during the rescue process".....Link: LostDogs

Also: When you click the Link to read all of this informative book review, don't miss the excellent slide show of rescued dogs from Vick's collection...reaffirming, positive, not sentimental...

This is a great place for dog lovers to stroll, amble, take a walk and meet interesting people...and to get some idea about dog lovers who write, train, photograph, blog...if you roll through a few pages, it's a very interesting and warm place to visit...like a neighborhood...we were once a guest visitor...the host is book, writing, and canine advocate Marshall Zeringue.

Book World Protests ...The power and inflence of Amazon continues to raise questions for Libraries and Independent Book Stores. Here are two examples of concerns in the current era of tumolt in the book world.

From the School Library Journal... School Librarians raise concerns as Amazon continues to extend it's power in the book world. The following is from an article by Rocco Staino.

"Amazon's decision last week to purchase 450 children's book titles from Marshall Cavendish has left librarians wondering how the e-commerce giant will handle the books' distribution channels, and whether they'll still be available from independent bookstores and major library suppliers such as Follett, Mackin, and Baker & Taylor.

Of course, the deal makes perfect sense for Amazon, which is trying to gain a stronger foothold in the market for print picture books, chapter books, and young adult novels. The acquisition also gives Amazon access to the digital rights of a number of well-known children's books...".........................................

I was having a lovely evening the other day until I read a Facebook post from a fellow bookseller about an Amazon promotion set to run on December 10th. The promotion: quite simply, to walk into any store, take a picture of the item with the price with your Amazon price checker app, and get $5 off on that item when you order it from Amazon. You’re allowed to do this three times on Saturday.

So, Jeff Bezos has decided or at least approved this scheme that all bricks and mortar stores should be visited, left empty-handed so folks can shop on Amazon while giving them price info from other stores. Wow. The thoughts I’m having about this promotion cannot be printed here. If I weren’t so riled up, I’d be despondent at such a horrible attack on stores...

The details of the promo (buried deep on Amazon’s home page) don’t mention bookstores, probably because Amazon doesn’t need to know about book prices, since they know we can’t compete with their books as loss-leader mentality. If I sound angry, it’s because I am.

Any independent bookstore has fought against Amazon since the day Amazon opened its website and started undercutting us on price. Some of us are tired of having to explain why our prices can’t be as low as Amazon’s. We’re tired of explaining why you can’t buy e-books from us if you have a Kindle.... ... I’m tired of faithfully paying sales tax and having customers tell me how much they like saving money with Amazon.

Here’s what I do: I pay sales tax, I donate thousands of dollars to local schools, charities, Little Leagues, church pie suppers, school trips, Geobee prizes, etc. I support my community and that means going to local stores and buying things there. Price is not the only factor for me. I know there are lots of folks on budgets, and to them I say: lots of children’s books are not discounted at Amazon. And does Amazon bring authors to your children’s schools? No."

"The staff of The Hollywood Reporter continues with its hard-hitting, link-baiting coverage of this year’s animal stars.

The showdown between human performers is heating up, but even movie-star dogs have competition. The early campaigner and reigning favorite is, of course, Uggie, the Jack Russell terrier who keeps Jean Dujardin’s leading man company in “The Artist....The Hollywood Reporter weighs Uggie against other movie dogs, like Cosmo, the Jack Russell featured

in “Beginners,” and Blackie, a Doberman in “Hugo” whose trainer appeared as a costumed character to keep the dog in check.

Then there’s Hummer, the Pomeranian who plays Charlize Theron’s forgotten pet in “Young Adult.” Hummer may have the newcomer role locked up; he was a true amateur, discovered by Jason Reitman, “Young Adult’s” director, on the streets of New York City. “You know why I chose the dog?” Mr. Reitman explained to us recently. “Because a Pomeranian is the only dog that has to smile, genetically. Imagine, this woman chose a dog that no matter what she did to it, no matter what she said to it, all the dog ever did was smile back to her.”

The dogs in the illustration are from Castle In The Mist...we hope that some day in the future that they, too, will be dog movie stars

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Sunbear Squadis dedicated to providing information, materials and inspiration to animal lovers...teaching people of good will what to do if they see an abandoned or injured dog. This excerpt is from one of the many true experiences shared by those who have been through the rescue experience.It began in freezing 15 degree F weather when a young woman named Malissa, after discovery a suffering puppy, disconnected a short neck chain from a table, placed the puppy into a blanket and headed for the vet clinic...

"The pup was very weak and malnourished and had to be treated for hypothermia. The chain had to be cut out of her neck. She was put on antibiotics and pain meds. She was just two months old and was a gorgeous red and white pit bull terrier.... Malissa brought her home to foster her. She was only a foster for a week before my family decided to make her a permanent addition and named her Ruckus...

Now Ruckus works with physically and mentally disabled children as a therapy dog! Without that split-second decision that my sister made to save her life, the children and families who love Ruckus would never have known how great rescued dogs are. The special moments where she has been laying on the ground surrounded by happy laughing kids would have never happened. Our lives are truly happier and fuller because of her and she is a true ambassador for her breed."

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"All knowledge, the totality of all questions and answers, is contained in the dog." -Franz Kafka (1883-1924) Investigations Of A Dog

DOG WORLD LINKS

Animal Literature"The more we study animals the more we understand ourselves, whether through books or live encounters," writes Barbara Julian, former librarian, animal and book lover, and owner of the Overleaf Cafe-Bookstore...literate, insightful and relevant posts are found at Animal Literature.

BookHoundsAn action-packed fun site for books, gardens, Dogs, interviews and non-stop book Giveaways...

Good Books for Kids -- ReviewsA wonderful site for parents, teachers and librarians...
Pam and Don write caring, relevant and very informative reviews...outstanding...

Booking MamaA passionate reader, an ardent book reviewer, with a young reading daughter who also reviewed for us... a dynamic reading duo...

Books Ahoy...Book Thoughts by LisaA self-proclaimed bookaholic, mother of five young book lovers, and reviewer...a family woman in and a
world of books...lots of book finds, giveaways and author interviews...

Joyful PawsThe website for Frankie the Walk 'nRoll Dog and his mom, BarbTeschel...inspiration for all ages in the story of this couageous dog...Frankie and Barb are reaching out to others to share their story...

Lesa's Book CritiquesLively, literate and relevant reviews by a professional librarian and book lover...the focus is on mysteries, but a world of good reading awaits you here